essay
We tend to think that ballets create fantasy worlds far removed from the messiness of real life. However, it is impossible to consider Odesa and Solitude, the two Alexei Ratmansky works New York City Ballet has offered this winter season at Lincoln Center, without also thinking of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and Alexei Navalny’s solitary confinement and recent death in a Siberian prison.
Ratmansky, who was born in St. Petersburg, is of
“Errand into the Maze,” “Cave of the Heart,” “Cave”
Ted Shawn Theater
Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival
Becket, Massachusetts
Friday, August 18, 2023
Martha Graham was at the height of her creative and performing powers when, in the 1940s, she began to make dances based on Greek myths. The Graham company offered two of these works at Jacob’s Pillow last week: "Errand into the Maze" (1947) and "Cave of the Heart" (1946). In keeping with the company’s current
“Hope Hunt and the Ascension into Lazarus”
“Navy Blue”
Oona Doherty/OD Works
Ted Shawn Theater
Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival
Becket, Massachusetts
Sunday, July 30, 2023
To be honest, I was a little afraid of Oona Doherty. The press materials sent out by Jacob’s Pillow, where Doherty’s company, Oona Doherty/OD Works, performed last week, made her sound angry and aggressive. Who needs more negativity after two-plus years of pandemic trauma? But Doherty confounded expectations. To be
“The Look of Love”
Mark Morris Dance Group
Ted Shawn Theatre
Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival
Becket, Massachusetts
Saturday, July 1, 2023
In the early 1980s, a young Mark Morris rode the cutting edge of the zeitgeist with works that gave an important place to gender identity and fluidity. Forty years later, his dances are those of an established master; no need to unsettle or provoke. However, Morris hasn’t lost his ability to sense the tenor of the times.
“The Nutcracker”
New York City Ballet
David Koch Theater
New York, New York
December 6, 2022
When New York City Ballet first presented George Balanchine’s “The Nutcracker” in 1954, New York Times critic John Martin wasn’t happy. He thought it betrayed Balanchine’s dedication to abstraction, which, he said, had revolutionized ballet. But, as so often happened, Balanchine knew best. He added the full-length narrative work to New York City Ballet’s mostly plotless repertory, and it is
“Diversion of Angels,” “Geta,” “Antique Epigraphs,” “Serenade”
Miami City Ballet
Ted Shawn Theater, Jacob’s Pillow
Beckett, MA
August 24 - 28, 2022
Since its founding in 1985, Miami City Ballet has had close connections with New York City Ballet and George Balanchine. The company’s technique and style are modeled on Balanchine’s teachings, while its first artistic director, Edward Villella, and its current one, Lourdes Lopez, were principal dancers with the New York company when Balanchine headed it.
“Dichotomous Being: An Evening of Taylor Stanley”
Henry J. Leir Stage
Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival
Becket, Massachusetts
Saturday, July 30, 2022
Taylor Stanley projects a sense of mystery that seems an intrinsic part of his personality. It is as if his dancing is a means of self-exploration, a search for answers that may not yet be fully available. A principal with New York City Ballet since 2016, Stanley’s classical technique is pristine but never solely the point. His
“An Untitled Love”
A.I.M. by Kyle Abraham
Jacob’s Pillow
Beckett, Massachusetts
July 17, 2022
Kyle Abraham’s “An Untitled Love” is dedicated, in his words, to “Black love,” as evoked through the music of R&B artist D’Angelo. Abraham has been a fan of D’Angelo’s music since his college days. He developed his choreographic response to it over the last four years, which included two residencies at Jacob’s Pillow.
As a white
“Deep Blue Sea”
Bill T. Jones
Drill Hall, Park Avenue Armory
New York, New York
October 3, 2021
When, on Sunday, the audience entered the Park Avenue Armory to see Bill T. Jones’ latest work, “Deep Blue Sea,” Jones was already there. He slowly moved through various patterns, as people flowed past him. Then he shifted to another part of the enormous space of the Drill Hall to go through more patterns, actions which he continued to execute in different
“Sky to Hold,” “Suspended Animation,” “Western Symphony”
David Koch Theater, Lincoln Center
New York, New York
October 2, 2021
Last week, New York City Ballet premiered two works that pointed toward an expanding reach into the twenty-first century. It is a healthy sign in a company that often seems to have settled into a narrow repertory that looks to the past in works dominated by Robbins and Balanchine, and choreographers influenced by Balanchine or the Russian school.
Both
“Amaria,” “Opus 19/The Dreamer,” “Russian Seasons”
David Koch Theater, Lincoln Center
New York, New York
September 25, 2021
New York City Ballet is at last back at Lincoln Center, and a cause for celebration it is, after eighteen months of virus induced absence. The fall season, which began September 21, continues through October 17. Yet, it seems no gain can come without loss these days, and so we learn that by the end of May six senior principal dancers
book review
“The Grand Union: Accidental Anarchists of Downtown Dance: 1970-1976”
by Wendy Perron
Wesleyan, 2020
The Grand Union existed for a mere six years, from 1970 to 1976. Yet its performances were legendary, in good part because a number of its members were among the brightest lights of postmodern dance. Would we still be interested in the Grand Union if it had not included Yvonne Rainer, Steve Paxton, David Gordon, Tricia Brown, Doug Dunn, and Barbara Dilly? I suspect not.
Important,